Bangladesh 1993-1994 Demographic and Health ... - Measure DHS

The data indicate that tetanus toxoid coverage is relatively widespread in Bangladesh. For almosthalf of births, the mothers received two or more tetanus toxoid injections during pregnancy and for 16percent, the mothers received one dose. One-third of births did not benefit from any tetanus toxoidvaccination during pregnancy.As for antenatal care coverage, tetanus toxoid coverage is higher among younger mothers, mothersof lower order births, and urban mothers. Higher coverage for lower order births and for younger mothersmay be explained by the fact that higher parity mothers and older mothers may have received all the requireddoses of the toxoid during previous pregnancies. Differentials in coverage by division show that coverageis highest in Khulna Division and lowest in Chittagong Division. There is a strong positive relationshipbetween the mother's education and tetanus toxoid coverage. The proportion of births whose mothersreceived two or more tetanus toxoid doses during pregnancy increases from 41 percent among women withno education to 71 percent among those with secondary school.As with the data on antenatal care coverage, data from the 1989 BFS indicate that the proportion ofpregnant women receiving tetanus toxoid injections has risen substantially. For births occurring in 1988 andearly 1989, 26 percent of the mothers received at least one tetanus toxoid injection during pregnancy,according to the 1989 BFS (Huq and Cleland, 1990: I 11). According to the BDHS, this figure was 66 percentfor births in the three years before the survey (corresponding roughly to 1991-93). If true, this means thatthe coverage level more than doubled in about four years.8.2 Delivery CareAn important element in reducing health risks for mothers and children is to increase the proportionof babies that are delivered in health facilities. Proper medical attention and hygienic conditions duringdelivery can reduce the risk of infections and facilitate management of complications that can cause deathor serious illness for either the mother or the newborn. In this section, two topics related to delivery arediscussed: place of delivery and type of assistance during delivery.Place of DeliveryTable 8.4 presents the distribution of births in the three years prior to the survey by the place ofdelivery. Almost all births (96 percent) in Bangladesh occur at home. The only exceptions to this high levelof home deliveries are births to urban women, 20 percent of which occur in health facilities; births to womenwith some secondary education, 16 percent of which occur in health facilites; and the small proportion ofbirths to women who receive at least four antenatal care visits, 37 percent of which occur in health facilities.Differentials by age of the mother, birth order, and division are not significant.103